Looking for a laptop

[NotTheOne]

Similar to the GPS post.

Looking for opinions on a new laptop. I know there's the Apple crowd, and everyone else. Since I don't own a laptop, this would be my first, so I'm open to anything.

I'm considering the basic macBook Pro w/a 13" screen, 2.3ghz. If you have one, I'd like to hear what you think of it.

If you're in the other crowd, but have one you like, I'd also like to hear why.

I know this is a bit of apples & oranges as the macBook is around $1200 and a intel based laptop is closer to half that.

Purpose is mostly for travel, playing dvd's and light internet use. No heavy graphics or photo manipulation. Looking for ease of use. The mini's are too small and they don't have a disk slot.

Thanks.

[Irons]

My wife unit and I both have HP pavillion dv4's with a 14 inch screen and they have been great. It is way more computer than I will ever need.

Nice thing is they come loaded with maxed out RAM so there really isn't anything to upgrade, and they are very fast.

[Book]

Looking for ease of use.

...and willing to pay a premium for it. Fair enough. Let's all keep this in mind when making suggestions.

[Scorpio]

I think there are a few of us that would be interested in our more knowledgeable members chiming in on this,

Economical
Fast enough
HD big enough
More for internet speed than anything else
No gaming, no excessive use of space like planning a trip to mars or something,
Yes some sound, but doesn't have to be Bose stereo type
Yes some pics, but not excessively so
Durability yes, whereas a number of Dells I have had experience multiple hardware issues.
Lot of use of Open Office software


Then once we have it:

Best browser to load out
How much of the background crap to clean out of it (Promo crap on HP's)
Best free or cheap anti virus (Micro Security Essentials?)
Best free or cheap adware/malware killer


How about Windoze 7, ok or???

That would be a few of the things I would be looking at?????

S

[Book]

Yes some sound, but doesn't have to be Bose stereo type

He is asking about a laptop so headphones are necessary and practical for decent sound.



System 7 is anything but easy to use. He said he wanted it mostly for travel and watching DVDs and internet so his simplest and free solution is any inexpensive laptop with:

http://www.linuxmint.com/

[Flake]

if you choose a PC, stay away from AMD processors, go with Intel. I have a Toshiba with a fingerprint reader and I like that feature very much. Get plenty of memory (4Gb these days). Windows 7 is fine. Make sure the disc drive does everything you want it to. If you expect to ever watch Blu-Ray on it, you need a drive that can do that. I think there are even Blu-Ray burners these days.

Otherwise there's really not that much difference from one to the next, not significant enough to be a dealbreaker. Get the best processor you can afford, it'll be longer until you need to upgrade again. When that time comes, give it or sell it and get a new one, there isn't much upgrading a laptop can do.

[Irons]

Best free or cheap anti virus (Micro Security Essentials?)
Best free or cheap adware/malware killer

Free version or $30 a year for Pro, avast! is the whip.

[dacrunch]

I'm "cheap" and don't know Apple... (though my daughter swears by it)...

In January bought a new Dell laptop at Walmart for under $500 - satisfied - all the bells & whistles (that I need).

This one's actually one step above, for the same price:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-i15R-1803MRB/15779809

(There's also another Dell laptop with less power that's possibly on sale in stores themselves for $348 : http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-iN5030-2399B3D/15627195 )

Added a few free programs I find essential:

- Avast! antivirus (gonna stop my paid MacAffee on the other 'puters when it runs out - avast! is much better imho...)
- OpenOffice.Org - works exactly like Microsoft Office, but FREE - and reads/saves in multiple formats, including ".doc", the Word format. Spreadsheets, spellcheck etc.... A Must - Forget giving Bill Gates fees for everything!
- PeerBlock (stops "intrusions")
- Ghostery (stops "tracking")
- NoScript (have to "temporarily allow" for certain pages to show up in full)
- Downloaded free VLC media player - plays more video files than Windows Media Player

Changed the Windows 7 display to "classic" so it looks more like XP

Installed the new beta Firefox 4.0, works well

Bought a Logitech wireless mouse - in my experience they have the longest battery life by far.

Integrated webcam - so placed a piece of electrical tape over it... Remove it when I use Skype...
Was disappointed that plugging a jack into the external microphone jack didn't disable the integrated microphone...

Figure that this unit's good for another 3-4 years. Didn't buy any warranties.

Oh - also loaded "EvidenceEliminator" program - bought several years ago, lifetime license - multiple 'puters, when you "Empty Recycle Bin" it doesn't just "remove the title" (which is what Windows does), but actually creates 1's and 0's and OVERWRITES the whole file being "deleted", thereby deleting it FOR REAL - so the nosy nerds can't do any 'forensics' on what you wanted (and thought) was "deleted" but was NOT... unless the "space" got "overwritten" by another file being saved on that portion of the hard drive disk...

Oh, it heats a lot less than my previous laptops, so no burned tummy...

[dacrunch]

Free version or $30 a year for Pro, avast! is the whip.

Free version seems to do all I want... Love it, doesn't "intrude" or "slow me down" or constantly make me "reboot" like the others...

[NotTheOne]

In January bought a new Dell laptop at Walmart for under $500 - satisfied - all the bells & whistles (that I need).

This one's actually one step above, for the same price:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-i15R-1803MRB/15779809

Looks interesting.

Oh - also loaded "EvidenceEliminator" program - bought several years ago, lifetime license - multiple 'puters, when you "Empty Recycle Bin" it doesn't just "remove the title" (which is what Windows does), but actually creates 1's and 0's and OVERWRITES the whole file being "deleted", thereby deleting it FOR REAL - so the nosy nerds can't do any 'forensics' on what you wanted (and thought) was "deleted" but was NOT... unless the "space" got "overwritten" by another file being saved on that portion of the hard drive disk...

I use File Shredder (free) http://www.fileshredder.org/ It doesn't shred the recycle bin, but individual files. Although it will wipe free space too.

[dacrunch]

I use File Shredder (free) http://www.fileshredder.org/ It doesn't shred the recycle bin, but individual files. Although it will wipe free space too.

edit - downloaded...

I think I know what I'll do from now on... Continue to use my EvidenceEliminator to wipe files, but periodically use FileShredder to wipe the "unused space on disk"... so there will be layered algorithms...

Why do all that? Who wants personal information (or some stupid downloaded song or movie) to remain on drives... when they thought they'd already "deleted" it...

by the way - in the previous post, added a link to a Dell laptop for under $350

[Irons]

Free version seems to do all I want... Love it, doesn't "intrude" or "slow me down" or constantly make me "reboot" like the others...

I use the free at home, and I turned my boss onto avast a while ago and we got 5 PC's covered with Buisness PRO.

It's amazing how well it works, but also how small of a program it is. Unloading macaffee sped all of our office machines up.

[Goldhedge]

I have a 17" Macbook Pro duo core. I also have a Toshiba 17" duo core.

I use them both. I had a problem on the Toshiba and reinstalled the OS
which promptly wiped out all the data. Lost it all. Not that it was important
stuff, nor that I needed it, but backups are the rule!

I also reinstalled the OS on the Mac. I backed up the data this time. After
installing the OS, I was surprised to discover that ALL the data was back
in place exactly as I left it! Now that was impressive.

What else is the difference? Updates are easy on a Mac. Ok on the PC.
I do tech for schools. All PC's and I am constantly updating Java, Flash,
and a host of 'other' stuff. Hardly ever have to work so hard with the
Mac. I don't know why exactly.

I'm not a gamer.

I plan on building a PC. Something with a 1g HD and i5 processor...
8 gigs ram. I want it to be fast enough to meet the future.

So, there's my best analysis. Have fun!

[winslo]

Goldhedge, are you planning on building a desk box or a laptop. I have always built my desk boxs. I have always wanted to build my own laptop. I keep looking for what they call a white box but have yet to find one.

[Sport]

For information on whitebooks:

AVADirect
RK Computers

Newegg was selling some for a while. I have built a couple of these in the past. While it was fun, it's more expensive and you are limited in what you can choose for components. Look at MSI's website for more info on the models they offer.

For laptops, I have two friends using mac's and love them. With my experiences of Apple products I would say they make great products. I personally recommend Dell business laptops. I have used Vostro, Lattitude and Precision laptops with good luck. For home use both my wife and myself use Vostros. Also you can find some good deals if you look at Dell's outlet site.

[Aussie]

I have a 17" MacBook Pro Thunderbolt with the new i7 quad-core processor, 8GB RAM and an SSD. It's unbelievably fast and a pleasure to own and maintain. I could not go back to Windoze.

[Goldhedge]

Goldhedge, are you planning on building a desk box or a laptop. I have always built my desk boxs. I have always wanted to build my own laptop. I keep looking for what they call a white box but have yet to find one.

Desktop. Not sure I can find all the parts for a laptop? With a desktop
you have an unlimited number of parts to choose from.

Laptops seem to be proprietary to me? Each one I've opened is different
inside. Where they put the memory on the mobo will have to match up
to the case door to add more memory, and you are limited to only two
sticks of memory (that I know of). So, if I buy an xyz mobo, I'd have
to buy the same xyz case, then the monitor has to match the out put
of that mobo... to weird....

[Goldhedge]

i agree, Dell makes good stuff. Especially the pro version. Sure
you'll pay more, but then, you do get what you pay for.

There's always the administrator who says "I can buy two laptops
at Office Depot for the price of that Dell!" and does - thinking he's
saving money...

Ok, does it come with MSFT 7 PRO? Nope, comes with HOME
version which doesn't connect to a domain - every enterprise
has a 'domain' of some kind to control access. Now you have to
also buy "PRO" AND install it. More time...

Does it come with the docking port? Nope, what is the point of
having a laptop? Portability.

You want to also have a huge monitor on the laptop? 17" is very
heavy to be lugging around. Get a 12" instead - cheaper and you'll
end up getting a stand alone 23"+ monitor for spreadsheets etc.

Every time you want to "plug in", you have to physically attach the
monitor, mouse and keyboard and any other peripheral you desire.
Double if you 'duplicate' the setup at home. Buy a docking station
instead.

There's a reason it costs more and it's not because they want to
screw you out of your money. It doesn't matter if it's Dell or Mac.
Buy a Macbook and install MSFT on it. You can.

Consider the iPad for example. How many competing similar units
are out there? The iPhone? The competition hasn't quite matched
the look and feel, battery life and size just yet. Nor the price. Mac
makes some good equipment - as does SnapOn...

The reason I have a job is because schools use PC's...

[Sport]

Just to clear the air on whitebooks. They are just a stripped down laptop. You usually have to put in: a CPU, RAM, and hard drive. Sometimes you have options with regards to the video card. I used to be picky about what components went into my computer, now I have a little one and I am lucky to have a computer. There are not that many companies that make laptops. Most vendors simply rebadge a MSI, Compal, Clevo or Asus laptop.

Here are the positives:
- you decide what components go in (not the ones that are cheapest)
- if you take your time, you can have a higher quality laptop
- upgrades are easier since you know how to take it apart and work on it.
- you can set it up to do exactly what you want (ie. set up for games)

Downsides:
- not cheap. Gotta pay to play
- takes time and patience to build
- not a lot of information on building

For more information on whitebooks or modding, look at notebookforums. They are the gurus at this.

[NotTheOne]

Update:

I ended up with this. About $450 before tax.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...reg_R1002_USEN

Not exactly tops on the list of "ease of use" but good enough. It does everything I need it to do.

A similar MacBook (drive & ram) was $1200, not exactly cheap. But a little bit of apples & oranges too. Apple was a 13" core i5, while the hp was a 14.5" core i3. Since the hp was about 38% the cost of the apple, economics replaced ease of use. Plenty of cash left over for service, if needed.

If anyone is thinking about this model, I'll tell you that battery life, with the supplied battery, is about 1 1/2 hrs. Short, I guess, but plenty of time for me. [see edit below]

I uninstalled Norton and replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials. I've used it before. It (of course) integrates fine and also it's free.

I don't plan to use the included advertising loaded & limited Office 2010, but instead will use the free Open Office program (www.openoffice.org).

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

edit: After owning for about 1 week, I'd like to correct the comment about the battery life. The "battery fuel guage" is inaccurate by about a factor of 2. At the 1 1/2 hr mark it said I still had 45 minutes to go. At 45, it said 30 more and so on. It finally died at around 3hrs. I tried to recalibrate the guage per hp instructions, but that did nothing. Other than that, the computer get a thumbs up.

[Book]

Update:

I ended up with this. About $450 before tax.

Fine choice.

CCleaner is a free and great little program to remove all the junk that is pre-installed on a new computer:

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

[EO 11110]

Similar to the GPS post.

Looking for opinions on a new laptop. I know there's the Apple crowd, and everyone else. Since I don't own a laptop, this would be my first, so I'm open to anything.

I'm considering the basic macBook Pro w/a 13" screen, 2.3ghz. If you have one, I'd like to hear what you think of it.

If you're in the other crowd, but have one you like, I'd also like to hear why.

I know this is a bit of apples & oranges as the macBook is around $1200 and a intel based laptop is closer to half that.

Purpose is mostly for travel, playing dvd's and light internet use. No heavy graphics or photo manipulation. Looking for ease of use. The mini's are too small and they don't have a disk slot.

Thanks.

go cheap. some hackass will nuke it anyway.

fatwallet.com posts deals all the time in the forum section. $300 ish will get it done.

[EO 11110]

Fine choice.

CCleaner is a free and great little program to remove all the junk that is pre-installed on a new computer:

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

second that. our outsourced IT help desk (india) has us run it whenever we are f-ed up

i use it at home.

[Irons]

I love my DV-4, it's a great machine and smokin' fast.

[NotTheOne]

I love my DV-4, it's a great machine and smokin' fast.

Unit purchased was a DV-5 2231nr (linky in post #20)

[elroy]

if you choose a PC, stay away from AMD processors, go with Intel.

I have used nothing but AMD ever since I upgraded my first 486 SX25.

Never had a problem, never had one fail. Good chips for the money.

[AGG]

Some here might want to check out Http://www.fatwallet.com and http://www.pricewatch.com for components.
Fat wallet often has good deals on the HPV 4's.